Shadows Before the Sun
by Reciprocity82
Summary: "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." Aristotle Onassis...Olivia Shepard, survivor of Mindoir, war hero, savior of the Citadel. Does love transcend even death? One man was strong enough to believe; this is the story of how Kaidan rescued the woman he loved, only to give her to the people he hated most; and how that gave them both a second chance.
1. Chapter 1

_*Disclaimer: This is my first time writing fiction (and having people read it), and in setting up my story I have used the comic Mass Effect Incursion and of course the opening scene to Mass Effect 2. Those ideas are not mine; I have just added and adapted them to type form. With that being said, I hope you will enjoy my head cannon._

Aria T'Loak knew something was off in her station. She could feel it in her bones. She and Omega shared a special bond; it was like a living thing to her. Omega wasn't pretty or shiny like Illium, it was dark and sexy, seething bodies and vibrating hearts. And right now, something told her that something was off, and by goddess she would find out what that was AND teach whoever it was a lesson. She was currently making her way down to the lower slums with two bodyguards in tow investigating some disturbing rumors of a meeting between the Blue Suns and some other group.

"Boss, I think you are overreacting. The reports that we have seen are telling us that it's just some Blue Suns mercs and maybe slavers." He looked at his companion. "This should be nothing that we can't handle."

Without changing her stride, or looking behind her she responded, "The reports are wrong."

Her two guards stopped with surprise. "What? You have new Intel? What's going on?" One of them said. They were both a ways back and had to run to catch up.

"I don't know what's going on, but Omega is mine, and I know when something is not right." She looked back at them. "Besides, it's important to make an appearance every now and again, show everyone who EXACTLY is in charge here."

This was the part of the station where the more seedy happenings went on. Wanted to buy a few slaves? Brokering a deal for red sand? This was the place to do it and Aria had her hands in all of it. Which was why she was a tad miffed right now; she knew there was going to be a meet with the Blue Suns, but who they were meeting with and why, was a complete mystery. And Aria hated mysteries.

Aria and her guards came upon a door to a warehouse that once had been used to house element zero, now it was being used for more nefarious things. Quietly, Aria and her two guards made their way up to the second level, where they could get a good look at the floor with little issue of being seen. They made their way up the steps slowly as to not run the risk of being heard. The stairs led to the platform high above the ground below. Aria crept out, gripped the railing and looked down. There were Blue Suns mercs with a large group of humans bound and gagged on the floor. Not a strange sight, slaves were bought and sold on a daily basis, however, the other group that the Blue Suns were meeting with gave her pause.

They looked to be human-sized bipedal insects with four eyes along a large tapering head; wings complimented this ensemble neatly tucked against their backs. They didn't seem to be intelligent from what Aria could see, all but one looked to be drones. All of them were standing around a larger being that was floating in the air. There was a lone one with a reddish tint and glowing eyes; this was the one that the Blue Suns were speaking to.

"You've got your _specimens_, now hand over the payment, or we kill every last one of you." The leader of the Blue Sun group yelled across the floor. The seemingly intelligent one looked at the merc with little interest. It made no move to hand over any payment, or do anything at all. It looked to be regarding the mercs with a hunger that can only be described as calculation. It was definitely planning something.

"Damn." She whispered.

"What the hell are those things?" One of her guards whispered behind her.

"They are Collectors," she turned to face her two body guards. "Change of plans, we kill everyone. When I hit the floor," She turned and jumped off the railing, "You send them all to hell." She yelled flaring her biotics and slamming into the floor with a biotic kick so powerful she knocked Blue Sun and Collector bodies away with a deafening boom. Kneeling on one knee, she looked up and saw the largest badass she had ever laid eyes on. It was floating there, like an insect searching for prey. She looked into its four blazing eyes from her crouched vantage point, and for the first time in her long life, she had no idea if she was going to live through this fight. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she knew that the thing was going to make its move soon. She dimly heard the sound of gunfire around her. All of her focus was on this monster in front of her.

Suddenly the air around her sparked with an electric charge, and she drove sideways narrowly missing the missing her legs. "Shit." She coughed, trying to get air into her lungs and quiet her racing heart. Aria looked to where her bodyguard had been. Both were locked into a struggle with their own nemesis. Aria began to pull herself up onto her hands and knees, rubble falling from her body. There was dust everywhere and it was difficult to see anything. This was to her advantage, giving her the time she needed to get her head on straight. She knew instinctively that her reprieve was not going to last long, so she forced herself to her feet. Just as she began to brush dirt and broken glass from her legs, she was grabbed by a Collector by the neck.

"You are insignificant." It said to her as it raised her up with her legs kicking and swinging. Fear gripped her chest, as her lungs burned for air. Scratching as its hands, she began to panic. Focusing on the pain, she dimly remembered the bomb she had in her back pocket. Reaching behind her, she pulled the bomb out and carefully fingering it armed, she knew just where to put it as well. She swung her arm around and shoved it down its mouth as far as she could push it. The Collector dropped her as it began to scratch and panic, backing away from her as much as it could. Aria powered up a biotic push and sent the thing flying into the big one.

Smirking, she turned and started away, "I may be insignificant, but you my friend, are the one that is dead." With that there was a deafening boom; the bomb disintegrated the rest of the Blue Suns, Collectors, and the human hostages. She turned back to the chaos when she reached her bodyguard. "Nobody fucks with Aria." She bent down to help her guard up. "Report."

"We lost one man, and the humans and Collectors are all dead. Are you OK?"

"Finish off any stragglers and find out everything you can about this _deal _with the Collectors, I want to know what is going on and now!" She strode out towards the exit to the slums making her way back to Afterlife.

"Boss, this is the information that I was able to find." The man handed Aria a data pad. Aria thumbed the pad to life and began scrolling through its contents. "Anything useful in the data?" He asked.

Aria creased her brow. "Human colony population totals in the traverse."

"What do you think it means?" What indeed she thought.

"It means that the Collectors are after more than a few human slaves, and that they have made a very dangerous enemy. I have a contact that I want you to give this to. See to it that she gets it."

"Is this data credible?" The Illusive man sat with his cigarette facing Miranda.

"Yes, Aria maybe a shrewd bitch, but she and I have an understanding. She interrupted a meet between the Collectors and a group of Blue Suns mercs. That datapad was found among the rubble."

"This is disturbing indeed if the data is correct. We need to find out what is going on and why. These colonies will need protection." The Illusive man took a long drag on his cigarette.

"With the actions of Commander Shepard, humans are stronger than ever. Sacrificing the fleet to save the council awarded us a seat. But it's still not enough, they won't believe her enough to do anything meaningful.

"Humans may have a seat on the Council, but Shepard remains our best hope."

Miranda turned to look at the man. "The Council doesn't think so." She started to walk towards him. "They are sending her to fight Geth, Geth! We both know they are not the real threat. The reapers are still out there."

"And it is up to us to stop them." He blew out his smoke

"The Council will never trust Cerberus. Even after everything humanity has done to help them. But Shepard, they'll follow her; she's a hero, a bloody icon. But she's just one woman, we lose her and humanity might well follow." The Illusive man snuffed out his cigarette.

"Then see to it that we don't lose her."


	2. Chapter 2

_As always, I do not own these characters, I am just playing in Bioware's world._

_I hope that this is somewhat entertaining, any reviews, ideas or critiques are welcome!_

"_**Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell."**_ ~Edna St. Vincent Millay

Kaidan never thought about happy endings. He had always left himself a way out of any situation; until Commander Olivia Shepard had entered his life. She plowed into his life like she did everything, with a big ass boot, breaking down anything that stood in her way. She was charismatic, smart, honorable, courageous, and beautiful as hell; with bright green eyes and hair as golden as the sun's rays. He fell for her immediately of course. It was funny, how he had thought that he was in love before. Meeting Olivia had changed his perspective.

She was gone to him now; lost to the void. Kaidan would awake nights, with a nightmare so hellish that he feared that he would die from it. He didn't even want to think about it, how her end became; swallowed up by the black of space, like a giant monster devouring her whole. It was too much too think about, so he focused on the current problem at hand; picking up the pieces of Commander Olivia Shepard's work, he would continue on because she couldn't.

Kaidan stood in the hearing center pleading Shepard's case, who not even dead two weeks, was being dragged through the dirt. The Alliance brass was trying to bury the events of the last few months. Olivia and the crew of the Normandy had risked their lives in tracking down the rogue specter and saving the Citadel from destruction at the hands (tentacles?) of the vanguard of the Reapers: Sovereign. Heck, they had prevented a galactic war, and all anybody wanted to do was forget any of it had happened. It was all PR bullshit anyway, now that the humans had a seat on the council, no one wanted the "crazy" ramblings of a war hero calling into question everything. Twenty-one people gave their lives in keeping these very people safe. Kaidan was so disgusted with the entire thing he often thought about giving up. Only one thing kept his sanity in check, because if Olivia found out he gave up, she would beat the crap out of him.

"Commander Alenko, we understood your testimony the first time, what makes you think that our ruling will change this time?" Standing before the Subcommittee on Alliance Galactic Security, Kaidan drew a long breath. It was getting late; he had waited three hours outside the committee chambers for an audience. They all seemed like they were doing him a favor; letting him get some closure of some kind. He even overheard some of the clerical workers whispering that he had some sort of post-traumatic stress from his ordeal in the destruction of the Normandy. The Brass had even promoted him in the hopes that he would take it and silently go away. Maybe he did have PTSD, he couldn't let that stop him though, he owed Olivia too much to just let the Alliance Committee steam roll her into nothingness.

"Shepard was right sir, the Reapers are out there and we need to prepare. We are standing on the precipice of disaster and if we ignore it, all of the work that Commander Shepard did and died for will mean nothing!" Kaidan threw up his hands. He hadn't been sleeping, it had been less than two weeks since the Normandy went down, nine days since he lost the one thing in his life that mattered the most. He looked at each of the council members in turn. Some met his gaze with sad understanding, some looked down at their data streams in front of them, and some; well some met his gaze with open hostility. They were trying to bury everything that Olivia had worked for, all the data she and the crew found on the Reapers. Now, it was all going to go to waste. Kaidan wasn't sure what to do, his face fell into a grim understanding, they were going to shut him out for good.

"Commander," Councilor Ballor said and Kaidan turned to him with a fresh wave of heat. Commander, he thought, a joke promotion for a joke job. "We understand that you and the Commander shared much, and that you were most undoubtedly swayed by her talk of these Reapers, as you put it." Ballor emphasized the word Reaper with air quotes. "No evidence can point to her assumptions as being anything other than the ramblings of an individual under a lot of stress. She had to go up against the Council in protecting the Citadel, she was a hero who cracked under the stress and was looking for things that weren't there. We cannot allow this line of thought to continue Commander, and this will be the last time we will hear of anything having to do with this so called Reaper Threat." Kaidan felt a hand on his elbow, not only was he being dismissed, he was also being escorted out. He shook his head and allowed himself to be directed out the doors; as the Council doors slammed shut on him, he felt a tear forming in his heart. He had always been and Alliance man, he had a place here, he didn't know what to make of what was going on. They didn't even hold a funeral for Olivia, saying that the death of a war hero would stir up too much and possibly cause a rift. He turned and looked at the soldier who led him out. He was now standing at attention in front of the door, a fresh face eager to make his way in the world. He remembered that feeling.

Kaidan turned and started walking towards the military housing on Arcturus Station. He had held a small apartment there which he used when he needed a place to stay to wait out ship transfers. He had always enjoys the station, it was the heart of the Alliance, and shown like a jewel in the sun. All white walls and gleaming surfaces, he has always thought that this was the ultimate accomplishment that humans have made. Now it felt like a lie, beautiful and strong on the outside, and dead and scared on the inside.

Thoughts of Olivia drummed up the last few minutes that he had shared with her. While the Normandy was falling apart around them, she still thought of the crew. The Alliance recruiting officers were using her likeness to drum up support for recruiting. After the decimation of the Alliance forces at the hands of Saren and Sovereign, they needed all the recruits they could get. Kaidan stopped in from of one of the rolling signs with Olivia's face. She looked so happy, so determined to do the right thing. He felt a surge of sorrow rolling through him. He never really had any time to grieve, never gave himself the time to grieve. At first he had to keep it together for the crew, coordinating rescue efforts and finding life pods; all the while searching desperately for the last life pod, the one that ultimately only held Joker. Now he was defending a woman who gave everything to keep people safe. Kaidan rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers he could feel a migraine coming on. He didn't want to fall to pieces in front of everyone on the promenade however, so he sucked up his feelings and continued on like he had always done.

As Kaidan walked, he passed a liquor store, and briefly entertained the thought of downing a whole bottle of whiskey just to forget for a little while. He stopped in front of the store window, looking in on its contents. A night full of hazy nothingness greeted him from the window. He almost turned to walk in to the store when he heard her voice.

"I'm Commander Shepard, join me is helping to make our galaxy safe for everyone." Kaidan's hand tightened into a fist, how could he be thinking about forgetting about her. He was being selfish, and he knew it. Olivia would want him to continue on, do the work that she couldn't complete herself. If she could see him now, she would never forgive him for giving up. Kaidan turned and continued on to his apartment. Kaidan barely noticed the low pinging that his Omni-tool gave off when he had a new message. Kaidan looked down at this Omni-tool, his eye widening with each passing word as it decrypted.

…_.Starting Secure Transmission from Unknown Sender, Stand By…__**What would you be willing to sacrifice to get her back?**_

Kaidan stared at the readout on his Omni-tool. Frowning, he continued to read the message as it scrolled by.

_**We know where she is, you can still save her….**_

He sharply inhaled. She was dead, Joker saw her ejected out into space. There was no way her hard suit could have protected her for very long, not to mention her oxygen wouldn't have lasted long; Kaidan shook his head to stop that line of thinking, he couldn't go back there. Someone was playing a terrible joke on him. There was no way she could be alive, right? He had to find out who the sender was and how they had gotten his address. Pulling up the root program he used to hack doors on missions, he began to run a background scan on the IP address.

_**You cannot trace this message. Meet me at the Citadel in two days, I will make contact once you are there…..and come alone. **__….Transmission ended, replay?_

Kaidan looked at his tool, dumbfounded. Did he take this seriously? Or should he ignore it? If there was even a slight possibility Olivia survived the destruction, he needed to know. She could be hurt, she could need him, and by damn he would be there for her. Kaidan picked up his pace, he had bereavement leave from duty for three weeks, he had time to track this down, and if it was a prank, those people involved would wish they were dead.

Citadel-

Kaidan made sure that he was early. He wanted to catch who was coming and going from this place. He was greeted with another message as soon as his ship docked, the sender told him to meet him in Cora's Den. It was just as he remembered it. As he entered, he was greeted by thumping music, and bright flashing lights. This was no teen disco though, as he looked about the room, he saw drinks, drugs, and sex all rolled into one dirty dark room. Careful to avoid touching any of the writhing bodies on the dance floor, he made his way to the back, where the more nefarious undertakings would be going on. He was able to find a table at the back wall with a good view of the entrance. It was still too dark for his liking though, anyone could show up and surprise him.

A skinny waitress in an even skinnier outfit came up to him. "Whatya want to drink cutie?" She made sure to lean on the table as to make her breasts more accessible to his eyes. Kaidan didn't rise to the bait though, and she huffed out her hair a little in annoyance as she stood up. Kaidan felt sorry for her, having to peddle what she could to make a living, who knew what she had to put up with. "Beer, whatever you have on tap, please." She strode away with a bit of a sneer.

"I knew you would be early." A woman said to his right. He didn't even notice her walk up to him. And he used woman entirely too loosely, she was more than a woman, she was a goddess, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a body that every man, except himself of course, was ogling currently. "Yea well, I tend to be punctual when it involves the life of my…Commander Shepard. Who are you, what do you want, and why is it you think you know where she is and that she can be saved. Because time is running out if she can be."

The woman smiled, "Ah, right to the point. I like that in a man." Kaidan scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know who it was that attacked and destroyed the Normandy?" It was a question that had plagued him for since the Normandy went down. The ship was no known type, and the Brass wasn't budging on giving him the ships sensor logs so he could take a look for himself.

"The Alliance seems to think it was Geth." Kaidan said growing more impatient.

"But not you." She smiled at him and tossed her hair over her shoulders. Kaidan's scowl grew deeper.

"Is there a point to this? My thoughts are my own, tell me what you want or I leave."

"What if I told you that it was not only not the Geth, but an alien race called the Collectors. Who, after destroying the Normandy, contracted a Shadow Broker to find the body of Commander Shepard and deliver her to them. They knew where you would be, and they knew just what to do to achieve their goals. I am here to tell you that I know where the meet is set up, and to contract you to help rescue her." She looked at him with intelligent eyes. This was a woman not to take lightly. He was sure she could kill him in thirty seconds flat without breaking a nail.

Kaidan narrowed his eyes trying to get a read on this woman, she could be telling the truth. It was definitely not a Geth ship that destroyed the Normandy. Doubts began to worm their way into his gut. The Alliance Brass had sent Olivia on that mission specifically, cutting short their shore leave. "And why are you here with this information? There has to be something that you want in return."

"There is." She said simply.

"And that would be….?" he looked at her in the eye, she just stared back. "Look, I won't do jack for you unless you start telling me what is going on. The truth, all of it, now; or this conversation is done."

"The person who I work for believes in what Commander Shepard was fighting. The Reapers are coming and she is the only person who has the strength to stand up and fight them. She is the galaxy's best hope against them. If we can recover her body, we may be able to save her. I have a team standing by; all we need is Commander Shepard."

Kaidan shook his head. "This is crazy. Commander Shepard is dead, there isn't any way to bring her back no matter how much people hope they can." Kaidan began rising from the table he was sitting at.

The dark haired woman put her hand on his wrist stopping him and forcing him to look at her in her eyes. She looked sincere, with not a shadow of a doubt in her mind that this was the right thing to do. Kaidan, found himself sitting back down at the table with a sigh. He wanted desperately for her to be right, if there was anyway Olivia could be saved he would do it, and the dark haired woman knew it; and Kaidan knew that was going to be dangerous for him. Despite his misgivings, he capitulated. "Just tell me what this plan is."

What was he getting into?

"Did you convince him?"

Miranda peered at the holographic display of the man she worked for. Despite their relationship, she didn't even know the man's name. Impeccably dressed, and devastatingly sharp, this man could play chess and win games he hasn't even seen yet.

"He is understandably suspicious, but he will play ball. From what my contacts tell me, he and Shepard had an illicit relationship together. There is no way he won't at least play along on the small glimmer that what I told him could be the truth."

"It could also be dangerous. Commander Kaidan Alenko has a clear moral grounding. If he's not 100% on board with us, it could be detrimental to Shepard's loyalty." The illusive man took a long drag on his cigarette. "If, however, we can convince him to work with us, he could be a strong asset in getting Shepard to travel the path we want her to."

"The Alliance and the Council have already taken steps to quiet the issues Shepard raised. They wanted to bury her along with her ideas. This angle will work for us if played right. Alenko is already disillusioned, we have just to squeeze the right spots and he will go along with what we need to ensure Shepard's loyalty."

"This is all a moot point of course if we do not recover her body. Where are we with the mission?" The Illusive Man ashed his cigarette on the side of his chair and looked back up at her image in front of him.

"I have already secured Alenko and Liara T'Soni. My information tells me that the exchange will be on Omega. A small strike force will do well in recovering our asset. Alenko is a strong leader and has worked with T'Soni before; they will get the job done." Miranda was confident. She knew how to work every angle, and she knew that the Intel was good.

"I cannot tell how important this is Miranda, do not fail me on this. Your lab and all of the medical professionals are ready to go. We need Shepard. And I don't need to tell you what to do if Commander Alenko cannot be turned to our side." With that the Illusive Man's image winked out. Miranda turned and walked out of the comm room, she would get the job done she thought with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

"_**If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever." **_

~Alfred Tennyson

Kaidan could feel the low rumble of the ezo core from _Hunter's Paradise. _Even through the metal plating and the glass of the docking bay protecting them, he could still feel its telltale warm-up. The feeling brought him back to the first time he laid eyes on the Normandy. He knew then, as he did now, that this mission was going to change his life forever. He had spotted Liara right away. Her pulled back blue hair tentacles was something he would always remember. He couldn't help but to be glad that she was here; he knew how she handled in a fight, and was happy that at least there would be something familiar around him. Currently Liara was looking through her bags muttering to herself. He cleared his throat when he stepped up behind her. She gave a startled yelp, but bounded up and hugged him when she realized who it was.

"Oh Kaidan, I am so glad you are here! This is terrible, just terrible. To think that some crazy person out there wants Shepard's body. What could they possibly want her for, and what do the Collectors have to do with it all." Kaidan pulled back from her and frowned; he really didn't want to think about what could be happening to Olivia's body. Liara stepped away from Kaidan and started to pace. "The shadow broker is a big player in this game; we need to get to him first." She was deep in a silent conversation he knew. Liara always had a tendency to focus on thinking and forget the people around her._ I have been relegated to a post_. He thought shaking his head.

"I have some information that might help with that." Miranda said stepping onto the platform. Both Kaidan and Liara turned to look at her. The woman continued. "I have a contact who has been working for the Shadow Broker, he is currently on Omega, and has a strong lead that the Shadow Broker will be meeting with the Collectors to hand over the body of Commander Shepard. We need to get there before this meeting takes place. We can get in, grab her and get out, shouldn't be too difficult." Miranda was peering at the docked ship through the windows with a disgusted look on her face.

Boy did Kaidan want to believe her on that one. He could use a little "easy" in his life right about now. But he had always been a pragmatist, too much had happened to him in his life to where "easy" was not in his vocabulary.

"Alright people, let's get moving." Miranda said as she picked up her bag and swung it onto her shoulders. "I have booked passage on this freighter; the men on board have agreed to take us to Omega."

Kaidan and Liara shared a look. He shrugged, well this was as good as he could get. _I'm coming Liv, just hang on. _He thought as he grabbed his own bag and walked into the decon chamber.

The ship was dark and dirty, it didn't seem like the crew was much into cleaning. Kaidan saw Miranda and Liara sitting around the small table in the mess, both women discussing something in earnest. Kaidan un-shouldered his bag and set it down with the others. He made note of the crew, there were 3 of them, two Turians who looked like they could be brothers, and one Batarian who was the captain. All three were currently eying Miranda and Liara with a little bit of hunger in their eyes. He would have to watch out for them, something in their stare gave Kaidan the willies. Taking his gaze off the three crew members, he made it way to stand in front of the table, effectively blocking said lingering eyes. Crossing his arms and leaning against the table top, he tried to look as imposing as he could.

Behind him, he heard them shuffle off to the cockpit, with one of them calling over his shoulder "we're leaving in 10, get settled."

Miranda had them in the corner of her eye, Kaidan could tell, but Liara was as oblivious as ever. Talking about some of the research she had been doing before she joined up with the Normandy.

…...

In the cockpit Joren Ba'Tash was finalizing the docking protocols when he heard his brother speaking with the captain. He turned to them, "We are almost docked sir, not a sound out of our passengers." He said.

"I'm glad of it, they sure paid enough just for three to get to Omega. I was thinking that if they were willing to pay that much to get to Omega, how much they would pay to get off this ship." His captain smirked while leaning against his chair.

Joren shifted in his seat to look up at the captain. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea sir, I caught an extranet report that the male human and that asari are a part of Commander Shepard's team."

The captain shrugged, "No one has seen Shepard since the Normandy got taken out, if they are looking for a spectre, they should have picked one that was alive. Now finish up those docking procedures and meet us back at the mess, I seem to remember that there was an extra docking fee I forgot to tell our guests about." The captain laughed as he and his brother walked out the door. The captain slapped the other on the back, "We can buy a couple of asari dancers with what we should be able to get out of these three."

…...

Miranda felt it before she heard the noise. She placed the cards that she had in her hand down on the table; they had been passing the time by playing poker. Kaidan was pretty good, but was still losing to her most hands. Seeing Miranda place her cards down, Kaidan and Liara followed suit both turning to look at the door. It seemed as though they felt the same things. Miranda had expected this; the crew of the _Paradise_ was of the type to shake down their passengers for extra creds. Miranda could feel the hum of other two as they readied their biotics. Both of them going to flank the door wordlessly, just as two of the ship's crew came through the door. Miranda crossed her arms and leaned against the chair. "Almost docked?"

The captain and the Turian looked at each other. "Almost." The captain said. "We need to discuss something first though. There are certain "docking fees" that must be paid. Running a ship is expensive you see, which forces me to hire people like the brothers, they aren't very nice, and they seem to have taken a liking to you and your little asari friend."

Miranda stood up and uncrossed her arms. Behind the Batarian and the Turian she saw Kaidan tighten his and into a fist before placing it on his sidearm. The captain turned to look at Kaidan "Now, now, there is no need to be hasty, I am sure we can all come to some sort of arrangement."

"There isn't an arrangement needing to be had. We have already paid you, and if you want to leave your precious ship alive, I suggest honoring our original agreement." Miranda said with ice in her voice.

"Oh, a feisty one aren't you. That's good." The captain started towards Miranda with his gun facing her. Behind him, the other Turian pilot joined his brother and kept their pistols pointed at Liara and Kaidan. Miranda made eye contact with Kaidan and gave a slight nod. She looked back at the captain. "You have made a mistake." With that she powered up a biotic slam and threw the captain back. Arms thrown out, he slammed into his two crew mates and they all flopped against the bulkhead.

"Biotics!" The captain yelled as he threw himself beyond the door and out into the corridor for cover. "Take them out!"

Kaidan had already thrown a stasis field on the Turian pilot effectively taking him out of the fight. Now it was just the captain and the other Turian. Liara placed a warp field in the corridor which grabbed the captain and his accomplice, subduing them both. Miranda guessed that they weren't used to fighting people who could breathe. She strode over to them and put a bullet in each of their heads. Turning, she saw the shocked faces of Kaidan and Liara. "They would have done worse to us, and then killed us. It was best to take the threat out. Now let's dock and get off this ship. We have a contact to meet." She brushed past Kaidan and stepped over the still form of the captain on the ground. In the cockpit she could hear docking control.

"Attention _Hunter's Paradise_, this is Omega Control. If you do not respond we will be forced to take you down."

Miranda hit the communicator button. "Omega Control, this is Miranda Lawson. We had a…delay, standing by for docking instructions."

"Acknowledged Lawson, sending coordinates now."

…...

"_**Rebuilding efforts continue at the Citadel, after a failed attempt by the Geth to take over council space, several historic landmarks, including a scaled replica of a Mass Effect Relay was destroyed. Commander Shepard of the Spectres, continues to patrol the last pockets of remaining Geth amidst speculation of post-traumatic stress after a passionate plea to the council races to come together and form a united front against the return of what she called Reapers; a massive machine race tasked with the destruction of all sentient races. The Systems Alliance has released a statement saying that the Commander had been under a lot of stress and had been mistaken with her findings. They went on to say, these Reapers were merely the Geth's attempt at causing panic and fear among organics. The Commander couldn't be contacted for comment, which is leading to rumors about her mission in the Terminus being a ruse for her mental decline and admittance to a psychiatric facility. **_The reporter sighed and looked gravely into the camera. _**This is **__Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani__**wondering what the Commander is hiding and to fess up to what is going on, the public deserves and answer. –More on this story within the hour."**_

Glass shattered in Kaidan's hand drawing unneeded attention to their little group. The bartender immediately came up and began to help him clean the mess. Kaidan barely felt the inch long gash on the palm of his hand. Khalisah al-Jilani, was a grade-A bitch. Always looking for a story where there wasn't one and manufacturing anything for the shock factor, his biotics strained to be let loose. He knew that this was not the place however, and he didn't want to give away the fact that he was anything more than some asshole sitting at the bar.

Liara grabbed his wounded hand. "Here, let me help you." She said. Kaidan finally tore his eyes away from the offending news caster. Kaidan looked at his hand; the medi-gel that Liara placed on his hand was already slowly knitting his torn flesh. He thought about the time when Shepard had stopped him on a mission to fix up a wound he had on his shoulder. Her deft fingers had lingered on him for just longer than necessary, back during a time when they had still been dancing around each other, neither wanting to make the first move. He regretted that most, he should have told her how he felt earlier.

Miranda seemed unmoved by the goings on with Kaidan and Liara. She continued to scan the crowd and wave away any perspective suitors that walked up and offered her drinks. Kaidan wanted to tell her to stand closer as it would look like she was there with him, but he couldn't bring himself to even pretend to be with another woman. For the past few minutes he had the creepiest feeling of being watched. Kaidan turned towards a man sitting in front of an Asari table dancer. He wasn't paying attention to her though; he looked Kaidan right in the eye. "Miranda." Kaidan said nodding in the direction of the man. Miranda turned and started towards him.

Miranda motioned for Liara to sit next to the cloaked man and shooed the dancer away, while she took the last seat leaving Kaidan leaning against the wall looking formidable he hoped. "Did you find what we are looking for?" Miranda asked. Kaidan looked at the cloaked figure and noticed that he was a Drell. He could recall that Drell were well versed in the art of assassinations, he made sure to keep that in mind.

"I may have located the item in question." The man said sliding closer to Miranda and watching Liara at the same time. Kaidan stood up a bit straighter.

"Condition?" Miranda crossed her legs and leaned back into the booth she was sitting. Kaidan almost envied the way she could look so relaxed, then he thought again, the woman probably was relaxed.

"Bad news I'm afraid." The Drell looked at the table.

Kaidan stood up and looked at him. "Dead."

The Drell nodded. "I am sorry for that news. However, I was only able to see the stasis pod where she is being held. The Shadow Broker didn't trust me enough to leave me there long enough to take a look for myself. However, your Commander Shepard is still on the station. The Shadow Broker has not met up with the buyer yet."

Miranda looked lost in thought. "If she is in a stasis pod, it could mean that her body is still viable."

Kaidan placed his hands on the table and leaned down looking at Miranda. "Viable, what do you mean? You think to use her body for some sort of experimentation? I know who you work for; I have seen what you people do in the name of _science_. I will not allow you to defile her!" Kaidan was barely containing his rage; blue fire was licking up his arms from his barely contained biotics.

Miranda leaned forward looking him right in the eye, "If you knew all along, why come with me at all?" When Kaidan drew back with no answer, she gave him a satisfied smirk. "Now, calm yourself Commander. This isn't the time nor the place for such an outburst. Get mad at me all you want once we are somewhere less conspicuous, we need to regroup. Let's get back to the ship and plan. We might also see if Aria has any information. Could use all the help we can get." Miranda rose from the table with her usual grace. Kaidan wanted to punch her in the face, but he couldn't help but feel like a hypocrite. His face grew hot the more angry he got with himself, all the things that he and Shepard discovered while investigating Saren, and here he was clamoring after one like a domesticated animal, he ought to walk away. The only thing stopping him though was Olivia. He couldn't give up the only link he had in getting her back. If he could do this alone, he would. For now he would go along, once he had her back things would be ok again.


End file.
